VEGETABLE POISONS. 59 



The results of other experiments which I have 

 made with the woorara, were similar to those 

 just described. The heart continued to act after 

 apparent death, and the circulation might be 

 kept up by means of artificial respiration. It is 

 evident that this poison acts in some way or 

 another on the brain, and that the cessation of 

 the functions of this organ is the immediate 

 cause of death. 



I found in these experiments, that the best 

 mode of applying the woorara is by dissolving 

 it in water to the consistence of a thin paste. 

 I first made the wound, and then smeared the 

 poison over it with the end of the scalpel. It 

 seemed that the animal was more speedily and 

 certainly affected, if there was some hemorrhage, 

 unless the haemorrhage was very copious, when 

 it produced an opposite effect, by washing the 

 poison away from the wound. When the poison 

 was applied in a large quantity, it sometimes 

 began to act in six or seven minutes. Never 

 more than half an hour elapsed from the time of 

 the poison being inserted, to that of the animal 

 being affected, except in one instance where a 

 ligature was applied on the limb, as will be 

 explained afterwards. The woorara which I 

 employed had been preserved for some years, 

 which will account for its having been less active 

 than it has been described to be, by those who 

 had witnessed its effects when in a recent state.* 



* See Additional Note E. 



